💍 Khitbah & engagement · #33
A man who already has four wives: may he get engaged to another woman first?
No; proposing to a woman whom he may not lawfully marry at that time is forbidden.
The maximum number of wives at one time is four (an-Nisa' 4:3). A man who still has four wives may not marry a fifth woman, so scholars stress that he may not propose to her either, because a proposal is a step towards something unlawful for him, and it usually leads to divorcing an existing wife for the sake of another woman. Only after one of his wives has died, or has been divorced and her ʿiddah has ended (for a raj'i talaq), does he become eligible to propose. See fiqh of polygyny.
The maximum number of wives at one time is four (an-Nisa' 4:3). A man who still has four wives may not marry a fifth woman, so scholars stress that he may not propose to her either, because a proposal is a step towards something unlawful for him, and it usually leads to divorcing an existing wife for the sake of another woman. Only after one of his wives has died, or has been divorced and her ʿiddah has ended (for a raj'i talaq), does he become eligible to propose. See fiqh of polygyny.
Sources
Surah an-Nisa' 4:3